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Comment Re:Why bother with manuals? (Score 1) 400

True, but nowadays the tie-in websites have really taken over this kind of content. Good examples include Command and Conquer 4 which had backstory videos, and the Diablo 3 website which has Cain's Journal, a fairly nice rebrief of the story so far... Of course, there's the whole offline argument - though I'm not sure if that applies to games you can't play offline (for whatever reason). And there are quite a lot of games out there that don't have good online resources. But still - not the worst idea I've even heard.

Comment Re:Like the games themselves (Score 1) 251

I agree - but more that that, I find it's generally better to watch anything in the language it was originally filmed/rendered/drawn for. Not only does this avoid the issue of awkwardly translated phrases to match lip-sync and sentence length, as pointed out in the parent, but also quite often translations will have trouble matching visual and emotional cues; this is even more noticeable between languages which have different word order. Subtitles, of course, do not have this problem.

Comment Re:99% never makes it across the ocean? Good! (Score 1) 523

Those are children's shows
And this is where the main problem stems from. Most westerners honestly believe this. Yes there are a hell of a lot of animes aimed at the children market, but there is an equal number aimed at the teenage, adult and (heaven forbit) yes the x-rated market too. Have a look at animes like Elfen Lied and Serial Experiments Lain. Elfen Lied contains Very graphic violence and nudity wrapped in a very adult story. Serial Experiments Lain contains moderate amounts of violence but can be psychologically raw at times, and certainly would not be understood by most people not in their late teens (or even then - a bit of the 2001:A space Odyssey syndrome...). Even fairly safe options like Chrno Crusade has dark overtones that adult audiences would enjoy.
Besides.... how many adults watch The Simpsons...?

They are paying considerable licensing fees up front for niche products
Unfortunately I have to agree with you here... but the market (especially here in the UK) has been growing at a tremendous rate - I have seen local superstores like HMV double their selection of anime every six months or so, with selections of anime that I actually consider good... yet the prices keep rising. Maybe the (japanese) anime companies will cotton on to the idea that lower licencing prices equal more overseas sales...here's hoping...

Personally, I remember a time when the only way to see anything but a select few titles was to find a 57th generation VHS copy or pay outrageous prices to import one directly.
Oh the wonders of new technologies....

I was overjoyed when Manga and the like started releasing more titles stateside with quality dubs/subs.
If the selection of titles by 'Manga' in the UK is anything to go by, by and large they did not release 'quality' anime... and IIRC the subs left much to be desired...

Rampant bootlegging of licensed works which serve a relatively tiny market could mean losing all that and I don't want to go back there.
And if the prices stay as they are, it's going to stay a relatively tiny market... I know a lot of people who watch anime, and all of us would probably buy anime DVD's if it was even conceptually affordable. I would love to own the official disks for the anime's I own, but with the market the way it is, it's just not possible - therefore I have two options: download it, or not watch it - both of which don't help the market...

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